Pages

Friday, October 20, 2017

Tam Design Review Board Recap

Dear Neighbors:
The Tam Design Review Board met last night. Thankfully, it was held in the Homestead Valley community room, to make it easier for concerned Homestead citizens to attend.
However, the meeting was held on a Thursday, instead of the usual TDRB meeting night, which is a Wednesday.
There may be practical reasons for this, but I cannot help but notice that Thursday is 72 hours after the announcement of the meeting on Monday.
To have the meeting on Wednesday, while noticing us on Monday, would have been in violation of the Brown Act.
To give us any more advance notice would risk more community involvement.

My takeaways from the meeting:
1) the Tam Design Review Board is an architectural advisory committee
2) TDRB Board members stated that public comments made at the meeting (objections to scale, percentage of lot, 6000+ additional square feet, reduction in public access to playground, more) may not be noted in their minutes.
3) Board members stated that citizens who want their voices heard regarding this project, who want their statements on the public record, should write to the planner directly.
You may send the planner a message through the project link below.
4) members of the Board noted that the proposed design is "urban" and does not fit in with the neighborhood's semi rural character
5) a member of the Board then stated that the new proposed buildings fit with the newer building already on the site (2005 expansion) and then the rest agreed.

I strongly urge you contact the planner directly, as soon as possible. A community is a reflection of the people who choose to participate in its development (or preservation.)

Time constraints and personal responsibility prevent me from documenting this project as closely as I covered the Evergreen debacle. I learned many lessons during that time, the main one being that life isn't fair sometimes and that some people just do not know the meaning of the word "enough."

I hold no ill will toward anyone, but my heart feels sorrow for those who will never understand that time is the greatest gift we can give to the people we love.